


Meant Something

by Ray_Writes



Series: Tumblr Prompts [39]
Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: F/M, Pre-Relationship, implied past Doctor/Jo
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-24
Updated: 2018-09-24
Packaged: 2019-07-16 12:23:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 948
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16086026
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ray_Writes/pseuds/Ray_Writes
Summary: Another little prompt drabble thing for you guys. Jotted it down this morning before class, so I hope you enjoy!





	Meant Something

**Author's Note:**

> Another little prompt drabble thing for you guys. Jotted it down this morning before class, so I hope you enjoy!

Donna sighed not for the first time this evening. Her feet were starting to ache in the heels she now regretted wearing, but she wasn’t sure she wanted to sit on the low, earthen bench set into the wall in the evening gown she’d picked out from the TARDIS. Oh, what the hell, it wasn’t the first dress she’d ruined traveling with the Doctor.

She dropped down, pulling him along since their wrists were cuffed together. He knocked against her shoulder with an “Oof!”, and Donna rubbed at the spot. He really was bony.

Not liking the quiet, Donna finally asked, “Doctor?”

“Hm?” It was the first sound he’d made since they were thrown in this cell together. It didn’t bode well; sure he’d spoken quite a lot when he’d risen to her defense, which was why they were both here together, but ever since the door had been slammed behind them he’d been as still and quiet as a statue. And that was how Donna knew something really had to be wrong.

“I’m sorry they took the sonic.”

They’d taken his whole jacket, actually, but it was the sonic that mattered. They would have been out of here and making a clean getaway by now if they had it.

He said nothing. Donna tried not to let it bother her.

But the next minute, she was asking again, “Doctor?”

He blew blew a breath out through his nose, then let his head loll to the side to look at her. “Oh, don’t look at me like that.” He smiled, but it was bitter. Then his shoulders hunched and he faced away from her again. As much as he could while being handcuffed to her, that was. “I wasn’t the one who got us in this mess.”

“Well, how was I to know she would take me so seriously?”

“People tend to take it seriously when other people flirt with their husbands,” he remarked.

“I didn’t  _ know _ he was married. Anyway, he didn’t seem in a rush to tell me.” Donna shook her head to herself. “Definitely not husband material, that one. She can have him.”

He turned sharply towards her again, his knee bumping hers. “See, that’s it. That’s the trouble. If you would just leave the husband search—”

“What, and you’ve never flirted around through time and space? I’ve heard the stories from Martha, Time Boy.”

His retort died in his throat, leaving him glaring at her.

“Not my fault you’ve never had the shoe on the other foot. Probably used to the girls following you around, too busy to even notice another man. Probably thought no one else could compare!” She gave a satisfied nod to herself, then took her own turn to shift away from his gaze. It felt nice, self-righteousness. She could see why he so often employed it.

“That’s not true,” he muttered quietly.

“Is so.” Donna was determined not to recognize how childish that sounded.

“No, it isn’t. Plenty of companions have left me to settle down, get married. And that was fine, mostly.”

“Mostly?”

There was no answer. Donna shuffled back around.

“Spaceman?”

He looked far away, and she wondered for a moment if he’d even heard her. Then he said, in a carefully light tone, “She did compare me to him. Said he was a younger me.”

“I find that hard to believe,” Donna said. “What, was he a teenager?”

“No, no he was young. Probably about the age I look now. Oh, but I am old, Donna. And vain, of late.” He looked down, his wry smirk fading. “I’m sorry. You’re right, I shouldn’t — you’re allowed your fun. This arrangement we have, it’s never exclusive. I should know that by now.”

He made to stand, forgetting the handcuffs for a moment, only to fall back onto the bench when Donna didn’t move with him.

“Oh, right.” He scratched at the back of his neck with his free hand. “Probably should have asked. Are we ready to go? There’s got to be something in my pockets to pick the lock with.

But Donna didn’t feel at all ready. There was so much she wanted to ask but didn’t dare to. Why had that particular instance from the past stood out to him? Had he been in love with that other woman and never said? What had made him think of it when talking to Donna about her own dalliances?

Was he trying to say…?

“Donna?”

“Right, ready,” she said, standing with him.

The Doctor was rummaging around in his trouser pockets one at a time, looking for some elusive pin or other object that might see them free. Donna twisted her cuffed wrist around, wrapping her fingers loosely around his. He froze and looked up.

“We’re a pair, you know that? Some other bloke isn’t going to ruin anything. We’re exclusive as it gets.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah.”

He held her gaze, a half smile playing at his lips. She wondered if he at all believed her. Then he at last retrieved a suitable lock pick and held it up for her inspection. “Well, Donna Noble, we’ll hold each other to that.”

She nodded. Despite the stories, Donna didn’t think it’d be hard work on her end; she’d yet to have to pull him away from some pretty face. If she didn’t know any better, she’d think that meant something.

But it was no small sacrifice to scale back the flirting if it gave him some peace of mind. After all, mate or no, she thought she loved him more than any man she had ever or would ever date.

Donna did know better, and yet that probably meant something, too.


End file.
